Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Monday, 28 April 2014
SLICE Evaluation Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Just a few scenes and shots
then editing like robots
Match on action and the classic
"I've been waiting for you"
without the stroke of a cat
we had it in the hat.
Then onto some scenes
the most random of types
on a piece of paper
with a dapper shoe lace tie
it ended with some walking
walking into a room
although it looked like stalking
even without a zoom
The camera captures your imagination
The process of a simple creation
Turmoil of a story
sometimes just as gory
From the start to finish
new skills i'll have to relish
with the good times and the bad
this time has been pretty rad!
Then it came to a remake
essentially a fake
opening to a movie
the costumes were quite groovy
it looked pretty simple
I found it was NOT!
The weather was a pain
and all it did was rain
The camera captures your imagination
The process of a simple creation
Turmoil of a story
sometimes just as gory
From the start to finish
new skills i'll have to relish
with the good times and the bad
this time has been pretty rad!
When deciding my shoot
I gave the large cast a boot
With a cast of three it made me see
how simple a small cast could be
Well, I say simple, but it really was a pain
although not from the rain
I had learnt a lot from the past
and brought it into the future
I found my horizon was vast
The camera captures your imagination
The process of a simple creation
Turmoil of a story
sometimes just as gory
From the start to finish
new skills i'll have to relish
with the good times and the bad
this time has been pretty rad!
This is the first preliminary task I completed. This task outlined how to go about shooting footage for match on action and then the order or of the clips in order for this work in continuity. The second task with this preliminary was the footage and 180 degree angle for conversation
A series of different shots from mainly playing to the accord of match on action. Match on action helps to give the footage continuity and also gives the footage the essence of a tense atmosphere as if the audience are walking into a trap of intense atmosphere and high action just before something big is revealed. This is one of the purposes, however for a more light hearted scene it could simply be for continuity, this could be used in a light hearted TV drama or a general soap opera. For the preliminary, I also experimented with different shots and different angles. These angles show the difference in a character but can also create tension as to what may happen next. In a group, we also filmed movements such as someone walking up and down the stairs.
The second preliminary which was more of an official preliminary a recreation of the opening titles to the film Reseviour Dogs directed by Tarantino. Through this I found how an opening could be created through very few shots, that opening, especially does not actually set up the narrative of the
film but more introduces the characters, due to their stance there is an essence of the characters not being up to any good.
One main thing I learnt from doing this preliminary was to always plan ahead and have a plan B. During the first try at filming, one of the locations fell through last minute and some of the actors could not make the date of the shoot. Another problem I found with the filming was the weather. As most of the opening of Reseviour Dogs is on location outside, this became a recurring problem due to the rain.
When considering the shooting for my thriller I tried to keep the cast as minimal as possible, this is because another problem faced was trying to find a date that would suit all people involved. Therefore I kept my cast to three people including myself. I also made sure of deciding more than one date for my scenes outside on location so if it was to rain I would be able to shoot the thriller another day. Luckily, the first date decided upon worked out as there was no rain on that day - however the clouds were covering the sun at times.
Just a few scenes and shots
then editing like robots
Match on action and the classic
"I've been waiting for you"
without the stroke of a cat
we had it in the hat.
Then onto some scenes
the most random of types
on a piece of paper
with a dapper shoe lace tie
it ended with some walking
walking into a room
although it looked like stalking
even without a zoom
The camera captures your imagination
The process of a simple creation
Turmoil of a story
sometimes just as gory
From the start to finish
new skills i'll have to relish
with the good times and the bad
this time has been pretty rad!
Then it came to a remake
essentially a fake
opening to a movie
the costumes were quite groovy
it looked pretty simple
I found it was NOT!
The weather was a pain
and all it did was rain
The camera captures your imagination
The process of a simple creation
Turmoil of a story
sometimes just as gory
From the start to finish
new skills i'll have to relish
with the good times and the bad
this time has been pretty rad!
When deciding my shoot
I gave the large cast a boot
With a cast of three it made me see
how simple a small cast could be
Well, I say simple, but it really was a pain
although not from the rain
I had learnt a lot from the past
and brought it into the future
I found my horizon was vast
The camera captures your imagination
The process of a simple creation
Turmoil of a story
sometimes just as gory
From the start to finish
new skills i'll have to relish
with the good times and the bad
this time has been pretty rad!
This is the first preliminary task I completed. This task outlined how to go about shooting footage for match on action and then the order or of the clips in order for this work in continuity. The second task with this preliminary was the footage and 180 degree angle for conversation
A series of different shots from mainly playing to the accord of match on action. Match on action helps to give the footage continuity and also gives the footage the essence of a tense atmosphere as if the audience are walking into a trap of intense atmosphere and high action just before something big is revealed. This is one of the purposes, however for a more light hearted scene it could simply be for continuity, this could be used in a light hearted TV drama or a general soap opera. For the preliminary, I also experimented with different shots and different angles. These angles show the difference in a character but can also create tension as to what may happen next. In a group, we also filmed movements such as someone walking up and down the stairs.
The second preliminary which was more of an official preliminary a recreation of the opening titles to the film Reseviour Dogs directed by Tarantino. Through this I found how an opening could be created through very few shots, that opening, especially does not actually set up the narrative of the
film but more introduces the characters, due to their stance there is an essence of the characters not being up to any good.
One main thing I learnt from doing this preliminary was to always plan ahead and have a plan B. During the first try at filming, one of the locations fell through last minute and some of the actors could not make the date of the shoot. Another problem I found with the filming was the weather. As most of the opening of Reseviour Dogs is on location outside, this became a recurring problem due to the rain.
When considering the shooting for my thriller I tried to keep the cast as minimal as possible, this is because another problem faced was trying to find a date that would suit all people involved. Therefore I kept my cast to three people including myself. I also made sure of deciding more than one date for my scenes outside on location so if it was to rain I would be able to shoot the thriller another day. Luckily, the first date decided upon worked out as there was no rain on that day - however the clouds were covering the sun at times.
Sunday, 27 April 2014
SLICE Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
the light I had used to film was not a conventional camera light but it still had the same effect of providing lighting to the shot to make the movements visible. Something else I learnt from this project is the objects and mise en scen which are visible. When shooting the second location I had placed a calandar on the wall that would have hopefully given some indication to the young girls age. This is because the band shown in the picture have been together for more than 10 years - indicating the general fan age ranges from about 14 to some in their late 20s. However, the general media interpretation depicts the fans to range from 14 - 20 years old. This was all planned, but looking back on the footage I realised only the bottom of the calandar is seen, not the actual picture showing the band. Through this I learnt to be carefull of where mise en scen is placed and whether it is visible with the camera shot or not.
Through this project I found the importance of where the camera is pointing and the difference the amount seen makes. In the picture to the left the actress looks more like a 16-17 year old whereas the picture on the right makes her look a lot younger. I also found the consideration of the angle of the light. In the picture on the left she generally looks like a normal teenager, however in the picture on the right, it seems as if something big will happen due to the shadow cast behind.
this was something that may have been used in the final cut but I did not end up using it. This is because I found it to suit more of a trailer atmosphere with the different colour changing lighting.
To show the effect of the home video I added reverberation to the sound. This hinted at the video not being part of the actual life of the thriller but being watched by someone else or a thought by someone else. This project is the first time I have made use of this effect and I am happy with the effect. I first came across this effect when I was at a live music concert and technician had placed reverberation on the singers voice. However, considering the sound at the live concert and the change in sound when editing the video had a different effect. The effect of reverberation almost gives the sound the effect of an echo along a long tunnel but the sound does not repeat - although reverb is to make the sound seem like the video was filmed in a very small room where the sound has been absorbed by the walls, it gives the right effect for this part of the narrative.
Another effect I used was on the actual footage of the "home-video", this effect was called Wind Blur. This was to slightly blur the footage to further give the emphasis of the "home-video". Although most home-videos today are of a high quality, I used this blur to show someone else was watching this footage - this becomes apparent approximately a minute into the opening.
This was also the first project where I made use of colour correction and changing the colour to add effect. I experimented with the different effects and the difference a simple change of a shade of colour can be. My original footage was bright due to being shot in natural sunlight, to add a more mysterious effect I tuned the brightness down. Although I did like the effect it had I did not use the colour corrected footage, instead I used the original to further give the natural effect of a home video.
Apart from adding reverb to the audio of the footage I also included two soundtracks both from website with royalty free music available for YouTube videos and school projects, called Purple Planet. For the first 20 seconds after the ident both soundtracks are played together but the happier soundtrack is slightly louder than the eerie soundtrack. The tracks I used were simple versions of tracks specifically made to underscore scenes, these range from 20 seconds- 30 seconds so I repeated the tracks adding in a cross fade to the audio to make it flow more precisely.
When capturing the footage for this thriller opening I found the Camera was flimsy on the tripod, this meant I had to make sure it did not slide down or spin around. This was a main concern when filming holding the camera fairly high up near the curtain railing (this footage is not in the final cut)
the light I had used to film was not a conventional camera light but it still had the same effect of providing lighting to the shot to make the movements visible. Something else I learnt from this project is the objects and mise en scen which are visible. When shooting the second location I had placed a calandar on the wall that would have hopefully given some indication to the young girls age. This is because the band shown in the picture have been together for more than 10 years - indicating the general fan age ranges from about 14 to some in their late 20s. However, the general media interpretation depicts the fans to range from 14 - 20 years old. This was all planned, but looking back on the footage I realised only the bottom of the calandar is seen, not the actual picture showing the band. Through this I learnt to be carefull of where mise en scen is placed and whether it is visible with the camera shot or not. Through this project I found the importance of where the camera is pointing and the difference the amount seen makes. In the picture to the left the actress looks more like a 16-17 year old whereas the picture on the right makes her look a lot younger. I also found the consideration of the angle of the light. In the picture on the left she generally looks like a normal teenager, however in the picture on the right, it seems as if something big will happen due to the shadow cast behind.this was something that may have been used in the final cut but I did not end up using it. This is because I found it to suit more of a trailer atmosphere with the different colour changing lighting. To show the effect of the home video I added reverberation to the sound. This hinted at the video not being part of the actual life of the thriller but being watched by someone else or a thought by someone else. This project is the first time I have made use of this effect and I am happy with the effect. I first came across this effect when I was at a live music concert and technician had placed reverberation on the singers voice. However, considering the sound at the live concert and the change in sound when editing the video had a different effect. The effect of reverberation almost gives the sound the effect of an echo along a long tunnel but the sound does not repeat - although reverb is to make the sound seem like the video was filmed in a very small room where the sound has been absorbed by the walls, it gives the right effect for this part of the narrative.
Another effect I used was on the actual footage of the "home-video", this effect was called Wind Blur. This was to slightly blur the footage to further give the emphasis of the "home-video". Although most home-videos today are of a high quality, I used this blur to show someone else was watching this footage - this becomes apparent approximately a minute into the opening.
This was also the first project where I made use of colour correction and changing the colour to add effect. I experimented with the different effects and the difference a simple change of a shade of colour can be. My original footage was bright due to being shot in natural sunlight, to add a more mysterious effect I tuned the brightness down. Although I did like the effect it had I did not use the colour corrected footage, instead I used the original to further give the natural effect of a home video.
Apart from adding reverb to the audio of the footage I also included two soundtracks both from website with royalty free music available for YouTube videos and school projects, called Purple Planet. For the first 20 seconds after the ident both soundtracks are played together but the happier soundtrack is slightly louder than the eerie soundtrack. The tracks I used were simple versions of tracks specifically made to underscore scenes, these range from 20 seconds- 30 seconds so I repeated the tracks adding in a cross fade to the audio to make it flow more precisely.
SLICE Evaluation Question 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
As mentioned in Question 4, my thriller narrative has a similar narrative to "Mental".
Mental mainly attracted a young adult audience, this was due to the cast and names behind the production such as PJ Hogan, Toni Collette and Liev Schriber to name a few. Seeing as my thriller does not have the big names behind it I think it would attract the teenage due to age the main characters and their story.
To attract audiences to my thriller and to "get the word out there" I would first release a teaser trailer and upload this to YouTube. I would then tweet this video out with "hashtag's" relating to the different aspects of my thriller. This would spread my thriller to a range of people and not just those who follow me on twitter.
Judging from the feedback I would have then made a descion on when to release the full trailer . Once releasing the full trailer on YouTube, I would then tweet out the trailer to the people who had some sort of responce ot the teaser trailer. The trailer for my thriller would be a lot more dramatic and would show many more cross cuts. I would include many more changes of colour showing footage and pictures with a black and white effect on them then change to footage and pictures with full colour. In my opening it is not clear there is a problem with the young girls' medication. In the trailer I would show the problem with one of the people who she holds dear changing around the medication required.
I would plan for the release to be near the time of the London Film Festival. This is so my thriller would have a chance of being picked and presented at the BFI film festival. Film festivals attract many people of all ages therefore I may be able to attract people outside of my target age range too. One of the inspirations for my thriller (Mental) was also previewed at a film festival . The video below explains a little more about the London Film Festival and the atmosphere around it.
With the ever growing popularity of YouTube and it partners (YouTube partnership scheme) there are many vloggers and Youtubers around who talk about their general life. For the film festival I would invite some of them to view my thriller so they would be able to talk about my thriller if they thought it was good enough and worth talking about. Today more than ever, companies look to Youtubers to promote their product than other areas this is because they reach a larger audience of a younger age and are also well known and recognised on streets alike others in the public eye. There is an example of this, this example was not from the film festival but actually the premier of the spider-man film. In doing this, my thriller would be able to spread to more people due to the mass YouTube audiences. The second video is by the same YouTuber in the first video, this again is about the London Film Festival.
I would go down this path if the film was chosen to be screened at the BFI London Film Festival.
If not the chosen for the film festival I would try something else for the general publicity. I would obtain the permits required then place posters around an area with directions and arrows, for people who chose to follow these directions and arrows they come across a stand and a screen showing snippets of the film to see if this catches anyone's interest. This would reach a lot of people and this combined with social media could help spread the word . I would also create all the necessary social media outlets to attract attention such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr etc. Before the cinema release I would upload small Q&As with the cast to increase the atmosphere around the thriller, the YouTube would also be open to the primary cast so that they can upload videos on their experiences with the film.
I would stagger the release by releasing the film in cinemas then when the cinema run is complete, there would be the online releases within one day. Depending on the online audience responce I would then release the film on DVD. For the online mediums, I would make it available to download on iTunes and make available for streaming on Netflix
As mentioned in Question 4, my thriller narrative has a similar narrative to "Mental".
Mental mainly attracted a young adult audience, this was due to the cast and names behind the production such as PJ Hogan, Toni Collette and Liev Schriber to name a few. Seeing as my thriller does not have the big names behind it I think it would attract the teenage due to age the main characters and their story.
To attract audiences to my thriller and to "get the word out there" I would first release a teaser trailer and upload this to YouTube. I would then tweet this video out with "hashtag's" relating to the different aspects of my thriller. This would spread my thriller to a range of people and not just those who follow me on twitter.
Judging from the feedback I would have then made a descion on when to release the full trailer . Once releasing the full trailer on YouTube, I would then tweet out the trailer to the people who had some sort of responce ot the teaser trailer. The trailer for my thriller would be a lot more dramatic and would show many more cross cuts. I would include many more changes of colour showing footage and pictures with a black and white effect on them then change to footage and pictures with full colour. In my opening it is not clear there is a problem with the young girls' medication. In the trailer I would show the problem with one of the people who she holds dear changing around the medication required.
I would plan for the release to be near the time of the London Film Festival. This is so my thriller would have a chance of being picked and presented at the BFI film festival. Film festivals attract many people of all ages therefore I may be able to attract people outside of my target age range too. One of the inspirations for my thriller (Mental) was also previewed at a film festival . The video below explains a little more about the London Film Festival and the atmosphere around it.
With the ever growing popularity of YouTube and it partners (YouTube partnership scheme) there are many vloggers and Youtubers around who talk about their general life. For the film festival I would invite some of them to view my thriller so they would be able to talk about my thriller if they thought it was good enough and worth talking about. Today more than ever, companies look to Youtubers to promote their product than other areas this is because they reach a larger audience of a younger age and are also well known and recognised on streets alike others in the public eye. There is an example of this, this example was not from the film festival but actually the premier of the spider-man film. In doing this, my thriller would be able to spread to more people due to the mass YouTube audiences. The second video is by the same YouTuber in the first video, this again is about the London Film Festival.
I would go down this path if the film was chosen to be screened at the BFI London Film Festival.
If not the chosen for the film festival I would try something else for the general publicity. I would obtain the permits required then place posters around an area with directions and arrows, for people who chose to follow these directions and arrows they come across a stand and a screen showing snippets of the film to see if this catches anyone's interest. This would reach a lot of people and this combined with social media could help spread the word . I would also create all the necessary social media outlets to attract attention such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr etc. Before the cinema release I would upload small Q&As with the cast to increase the atmosphere around the thriller, the YouTube would also be open to the primary cast so that they can upload videos on their experiences with the film.
I would stagger the release by releasing the film in cinemas then when the cinema run is complete, there would be the online releases within one day. Depending on the online audience responce I would then release the film on DVD. For the online mediums, I would make it available to download on iTunes and make available for streaming on Netflix
SLICE Evaluation Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Saturday, 19 April 2014
SLICE Evaluation Question 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The main audience for my thriller would be teenagers. Most films for teenagers consist of romance and high action. Whereas my thriller contains more twists and turns with the main character trying to find herself after multiple personalities. Seeing as most of the cast are teenagers most of the teenagers would be able to understand the story of the teen as she goes through her life.
There are also some older viewers who would be possibly be attracted to the way in which the teens are represented, this is they can see something different and teenagers not being represented in the same way they are in most thrillers. An example of another film with a different representation of youth is the film by PJ Hogan called Mental.
Mental stars Toni Colette and is directed by PJ Hogan, the same team behind the successful Muriels Wedding. This film however is not a thriller but is a comedy. This film portrays five teenagers who are convinced they have mental problems. It is at the end of the film when Shaz - a hitch-hiker picked up to look after the girls by their father, explains their thoughts. She states how everyone around them was suffering from mental disorders and therefore the girls who did not have any mental disorders were seen as the mental ones. The teen sisters were in fact not sufferers but were made to feel like they were. They were surrounded by people who had disorders such obsessive compulsive disorder.
Considering my own thriller, I would aim this at mostly the teenage range of people. Below is a profile.
The feedback I received from my first draft was that the titles looked vey bland and made the thriller look like it was made in the 40s. I was also told to make the transitions tighter, another piece of feedback I received was to consider breaking the home-video sequence, this is because it does go on for quite a while and can become monotonous.
The main audience for my thriller would be teenagers. Most films for teenagers consist of romance and high action. Whereas my thriller contains more twists and turns with the main character trying to find herself after multiple personalities. Seeing as most of the cast are teenagers most of the teenagers would be able to understand the story of the teen as she goes through her life.
There are also some older viewers who would be possibly be attracted to the way in which the teens are represented, this is they can see something different and teenagers not being represented in the same way they are in most thrillers. An example of another film with a different representation of youth is the film by PJ Hogan called Mental.
Mental stars Toni Colette and is directed by PJ Hogan, the same team behind the successful Muriels Wedding. This film however is not a thriller but is a comedy. This film portrays five teenagers who are convinced they have mental problems. It is at the end of the film when Shaz - a hitch-hiker picked up to look after the girls by their father, explains their thoughts. She states how everyone around them was suffering from mental disorders and therefore the girls who did not have any mental disorders were seen as the mental ones. The teen sisters were in fact not sufferers but were made to feel like they were. They were surrounded by people who had disorders such obsessive compulsive disorder.
Considering my own thriller, I would aim this at mostly the teenage range of people. Below is a profile.
The feedback I received from my first draft was that the titles looked vey bland and made the thriller look like it was made in the 40s. I was also told to make the transitions tighter, another piece of feedback I received was to consider breaking the home-video sequence, this is because it does go on for quite a while and can become monotonous.
Friday, 18 April 2014
SLICE Evaluation Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My thriller opening shows a groups of teenage girls, in the typical thriller, a group of teenagers are normally represented as the people causing trouble because the fall into the sub-culture of "youth" this is known to have a bad connotation. Teenage girls especially are read with the connotation of "helpless" and "damsel in distress" this is until their help is required. Even when female characters help out and save the general protagonist, the male protagonist is still assumed to be and seen as the main hero. The antagonist is also seen as the big macho male who is generally very built up and walks with a mysterious manner.
Considering the costume of the character in my thriller I wanted to convey the effect of normality and the character in the film being unaware to the chance of something going down hill. The effect of this is so when the antagonist is finally seen, the audience would not expect it. With thoughts to the flexibility of the costume I needed the costume to be fairly loose so that the actresses could climb around the climbing frame and dancing around the park. With the look to the general actresses and their overall look, wanting them to look natural I asked them to wear what they would normally would wear on a day out to increase the natural persona of people representing that age. Another consideration is the colour of clothing the actresses are wearing; red is usually seen as something quite sensual, seeing as these were portrays as innocent teens I tried to stay away from wearing red.
Another aspect is when people think of teenagers they do not think of a group of people dancing around a park, they usually think of a bunch of people who are surrounded by drugs and alcohol, they also think the teenage girls especially as being those who are not wearing not much clothing. I wanted to go against this and actually portray teenagers to not be trouble makers. In fact not many teenagers are "off the rails" but these are the teens portrayed through the media and the news. Some may say having a bunch of teenagers dancing around an open space can be seen as fairly childish and pre-teen but this is more likely to occur than being "off the rails" especially in the open and in broad daylight.
Within my thriller opening there is the essence of one of the girls have dissociative identity disorder. When researching the affects of this disorder I found most of the videos were of people aged over 25, there was not any video showing younger sufferers even though people of a younger age can also have this disorder. When watching interviews with sufferers, I found some who knew of their conditions and others who did not know of their condition as they were interviewed when they were taking on the persona of someone else. Therefore my opening follows a recording of the girls then shows the actress with dissociative identity disorder looking back at the video and wondering why that video is there and who the people in the video are.
Alike any film, I had to show the age of the person other than their own look. To show the age of this person, in the background I had a McFly calendar to show the age of the person. however this can be said to not be a clear indication of age because the band McFly have been around for more than 10 years so there is quite a range in fan ages. I also placed some juice and books near the laptop where the person was watching the video. This was to show the learning age of the person to show they are still in school.
My thriller opening shows a groups of teenage girls, in the typical thriller, a group of teenagers are normally represented as the people causing trouble because the fall into the sub-culture of "youth" this is known to have a bad connotation. Teenage girls especially are read with the connotation of "helpless" and "damsel in distress" this is until their help is required. Even when female characters help out and save the general protagonist, the male protagonist is still assumed to be and seen as the main hero. The antagonist is also seen as the big macho male who is generally very built up and walks with a mysterious manner.
Considering the costume of the character in my thriller I wanted to convey the effect of normality and the character in the film being unaware to the chance of something going down hill. The effect of this is so when the antagonist is finally seen, the audience would not expect it. With thoughts to the flexibility of the costume I needed the costume to be fairly loose so that the actresses could climb around the climbing frame and dancing around the park. With the look to the general actresses and their overall look, wanting them to look natural I asked them to wear what they would normally would wear on a day out to increase the natural persona of people representing that age. Another consideration is the colour of clothing the actresses are wearing; red is usually seen as something quite sensual, seeing as these were portrays as innocent teens I tried to stay away from wearing red.
Another aspect is when people think of teenagers they do not think of a group of people dancing around a park, they usually think of a bunch of people who are surrounded by drugs and alcohol, they also think the teenage girls especially as being those who are not wearing not much clothing. I wanted to go against this and actually portray teenagers to not be trouble makers. In fact not many teenagers are "off the rails" but these are the teens portrayed through the media and the news. Some may say having a bunch of teenagers dancing around an open space can be seen as fairly childish and pre-teen but this is more likely to occur than being "off the rails" especially in the open and in broad daylight.
Within my thriller opening there is the essence of one of the girls have dissociative identity disorder. When researching the affects of this disorder I found most of the videos were of people aged over 25, there was not any video showing younger sufferers even though people of a younger age can also have this disorder. When watching interviews with sufferers, I found some who knew of their conditions and others who did not know of their condition as they were interviewed when they were taking on the persona of someone else. Therefore my opening follows a recording of the girls then shows the actress with dissociative identity disorder looking back at the video and wondering why that video is there and who the people in the video are.
Alike any film, I had to show the age of the person other than their own look. To show the age of this person, in the background I had a McFly calendar to show the age of the person. however this can be said to not be a clear indication of age because the band McFly have been around for more than 10 years so there is quite a range in fan ages. I also placed some juice and books near the laptop where the person was watching the video. This was to show the learning age of the person to show they are still in school.
Thursday, 17 April 2014
SLICE Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In most thriller the protagonists are notably identified within the first few minutes. The antagonist is also identified, however my thriller opening challenges this concept by not having clear identification of the protagonist, there is an assumption of the girl in the yellow dress being a victim but there is no identification of who the protagonist could be.
The opening to set up the story and the atmosphere of the entire film; when planning and filming this I wanted to set the general background of the main character. To convey this I set the opening scene in a park. In your typical thriller, an opening scene in a park is used a lot, then there is usually some stalking of some sort of one or more people. For my thriller, this was different, the opening scene with the park shows three friends dancing around and enjoying their day. For the background of the shot, I did not want to include anything that was not natural or would convey the meaning of something dark or bad about to happen, therefore it was kept simple. Another reason it was kept simple was so that the video looked like something that was not planned (a home video). For the mise en scen such as the clothing, I asked my actors to wear casual clothing that would depict their age the latter stage of the teen age. To further convey this opening was not intentional and to show someone else watching the video, in post production I blurred the image and added the sound effect of a reverb. This showed this video was either a flashback from someones mind or a memory caught on tape that was being watched. The lighting for the first scene of my opening was left to natural sunlight on the day, this was to further convey the effect of a home video. Another tool of editing I used was placing a picture on top of a video so it is clear what what character is confused about.
The music used to underscore this first scene is a playful upbeat musical piece to show the emotions of the girls who were dancing around, however, under this score there is another piece of music which is conveys more of a suspenseful atmosphere. The more suspenseful music is to show how this first opening scene could lead to much confusion. To further add to the natural affect, I could have imported in some sounds to do with a general park such as bird song, however, this would be too typical of a thriller and typical of that sort of opening.
For the titles of my thriller opening, I initially started with the titles using the font "chalkboard" the letters were white and had a black drop shadow. Although this did look pleasing, it did not reflect the atmosphere of the general video. To improve this I made use of another programme called "after affects" this then improved the titles and conveyed the storyline I wanted to show. The new titles now fade in, this represents the parts of the girls memory being fractured which becomes apparent through the second scene.
My film is called "SLICE" this is because the opening especially, shows the character as having lost a slice of her memory, which has then led her question who she is herself. When considering the rest of the thriller and how it would continue, climax then end, I imagined the plot to thicken with the main character taking a stand and seeking out the answers to her fractured memory. The story continues with having consecutive days where her memory is completely blank. Throughout these days it is where she changes her character and personality due to dissociative identity disorder. For the font of the title I made use of a font called "1974 report" this represents the atmosphere of the opening.
For the second location, the props I made use of were:
A Black Laptop
A desk
A glass
Some orange juice
A laptop charger
A chair
A journal
Pencil Case
Pen
and a calendar.
The props used here were to showcase the surrounding of the character. The pens, juice and book indicate a young person possibly completing some school work or revising for an upcoming test. The laptop and charger help to further create this scenario with the young student. The calendar is normally present in any room, especially that of a student who may have some upcoming deadlines. The glass and bottle of orange juice possibly show the student as hard working and therefore appears to the audience as a nice and innocent and hardworking person.
Considering the costume for the second location it poses as juxtaposition. This is because the actress is wearing a bright yellow dress during the scene where the problem first arises as opposed to darkened colours to fit the atmosphere and the storyline. Whereas in the first scene, all three of the characters are seen to be wearing a range of colours for general and casual outdoor wear yet the colours are not overly as bright as the yellow dress warn in the second scene. The first scene, although with less brightly coloured represents a happier time as opposed to the second scene.
The genre of my film is generally physiological, the character suffering from dissociative identity disorder has the chance to control herself through the help of medication but it is not working. This is because someone close to her has been changing around the medication, meaning the main character has simply been taking sugar instead of medication. The genre becomes apparent through the frame which shows the words "who am i?" written on a piece of paper.
In your typical thriller, the tense atmosphere is apparent within the first 10 seconds, however the tense atmosphere of my thriller is only apparent in last 5 seconds. Seeing as my thriller starts with a home video, it connects the audience on a personal level. Usually, there is not a personal connection with the characters or their background until the climax in the narrative however, with being thrown in to the personal atmosphere of a home video, the audience can continue along with the journey of the character then be thrown into the same problems the character faces.
In most thriller the protagonists are notably identified within the first few minutes. The antagonist is also identified, however my thriller opening challenges this concept by not having clear identification of the protagonist, there is an assumption of the girl in the yellow dress being a victim but there is no identification of who the protagonist could be.
The opening to set up the story and the atmosphere of the entire film; when planning and filming this I wanted to set the general background of the main character. To convey this I set the opening scene in a park. In your typical thriller, an opening scene in a park is used a lot, then there is usually some stalking of some sort of one or more people. For my thriller, this was different, the opening scene with the park shows three friends dancing around and enjoying their day. For the background of the shot, I did not want to include anything that was not natural or would convey the meaning of something dark or bad about to happen, therefore it was kept simple. Another reason it was kept simple was so that the video looked like something that was not planned (a home video). For the mise en scen such as the clothing, I asked my actors to wear casual clothing that would depict their age the latter stage of the teen age. To further convey this opening was not intentional and to show someone else watching the video, in post production I blurred the image and added the sound effect of a reverb. This showed this video was either a flashback from someones mind or a memory caught on tape that was being watched. The lighting for the first scene of my opening was left to natural sunlight on the day, this was to further convey the effect of a home video. Another tool of editing I used was placing a picture on top of a video so it is clear what what character is confused about.
The music used to underscore this first scene is a playful upbeat musical piece to show the emotions of the girls who were dancing around, however, under this score there is another piece of music which is conveys more of a suspenseful atmosphere. The more suspenseful music is to show how this first opening scene could lead to much confusion. To further add to the natural affect, I could have imported in some sounds to do with a general park such as bird song, however, this would be too typical of a thriller and typical of that sort of opening.
For the titles of my thriller opening, I initially started with the titles using the font "chalkboard" the letters were white and had a black drop shadow. Although this did look pleasing, it did not reflect the atmosphere of the general video. To improve this I made use of another programme called "after affects" this then improved the titles and conveyed the storyline I wanted to show. The new titles now fade in, this represents the parts of the girls memory being fractured which becomes apparent through the second scene.
My film is called "SLICE" this is because the opening especially, shows the character as having lost a slice of her memory, which has then led her question who she is herself. When considering the rest of the thriller and how it would continue, climax then end, I imagined the plot to thicken with the main character taking a stand and seeking out the answers to her fractured memory. The story continues with having consecutive days where her memory is completely blank. Throughout these days it is where she changes her character and personality due to dissociative identity disorder. For the font of the title I made use of a font called "1974 report" this represents the atmosphere of the opening.
For the second location, the props I made use of were:
A Black Laptop
A desk
A glass
Some orange juice
A laptop charger
A chair
A journal
Pencil Case
Pen
and a calendar.
The props used here were to showcase the surrounding of the character. The pens, juice and book indicate a young person possibly completing some school work or revising for an upcoming test. The laptop and charger help to further create this scenario with the young student. The calendar is normally present in any room, especially that of a student who may have some upcoming deadlines. The glass and bottle of orange juice possibly show the student as hard working and therefore appears to the audience as a nice and innocent and hardworking person.
Considering the costume for the second location it poses as juxtaposition. This is because the actress is wearing a bright yellow dress during the scene where the problem first arises as opposed to darkened colours to fit the atmosphere and the storyline. Whereas in the first scene, all three of the characters are seen to be wearing a range of colours for general and casual outdoor wear yet the colours are not overly as bright as the yellow dress warn in the second scene. The first scene, although with less brightly coloured represents a happier time as opposed to the second scene.
The genre of my film is generally physiological, the character suffering from dissociative identity disorder has the chance to control herself through the help of medication but it is not working. This is because someone close to her has been changing around the medication, meaning the main character has simply been taking sugar instead of medication. The genre becomes apparent through the frame which shows the words "who am i?" written on a piece of paper.
In your typical thriller, the tense atmosphere is apparent within the first 10 seconds, however the tense atmosphere of my thriller is only apparent in last 5 seconds. Seeing as my thriller starts with a home video, it connects the audience on a personal level. Usually, there is not a personal connection with the characters or their background until the climax in the narrative however, with being thrown in to the personal atmosphere of a home video, the audience can continue along with the journey of the character then be thrown into the same problems the character faces.
Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Position of titles
When considering the position of the titles for my thriller I analysed other films such as SE7EN. with SE7EN I found them to be fairly bold and "in your face" the use of this may direct the audiences attention away from the narrative on screen.
Next I looked at The King's Speech, the tiles for this are to one side and do not take away much attention from the narrative.
Next I looked at The King's Speech, the tiles for this are to one side and do not take away much attention from the narrative.
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Title Font
For the titles of my thriller opening I am hoping for something which looks a little run down but not with the look of a run down area, more of an appearance that gives the affect of tiredness.
These are a few examples
The examples above are from http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/list/find_fonts/300
These fonts are from http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=107&page=5
Taking inspiration from the above fonts I made the following samples to see which ones would look better. For the samples below, they are mainly alike the battle of the bands poster - this is because I knew how to create that affect because I was one of the 3 people who made that poster. Although it does not look like the font on the poster, we had experimented with the style a few weeks ago.
These are a few examples
This is an example of a poster
Taking inspiration from the above fonts I made the following samples to see which ones would look better. For the samples below, they are mainly alike the battle of the bands poster - this is because I knew how to create that affect because I was one of the 3 people who made that poster. Although it does not look like the font on the poster, we had experimented with the style a few weeks ago.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
name change
After filming on the second location for my thriller opening I have decided to change the name of the my thriller from "Slice" to "Who am I". This is because the last image to be seen is a dairy entry, where the words read "Who Am I"
UPDATE: THE NAME WILL REMAIN AS SLICE
Friday, 21 March 2014
Footage from the second location
on Thursday 20th March, I shot the last scenes for my thriller opening. When shooting and reviewing the footage on the camcorder, it seemed to be ok, however after viewing the footage on a computer with a larger screen I realised the footage is too dark possibly due to the position of the lights. To correct this, I hope to shoot the footage again on Monday the 24th of March.
For the second try of this shoot, I will draw the curtains because during one of the shots, the reflection of the light is visible.
For the second try of this shoot, I will draw the curtains because during one of the shots, the reflection of the light is visible.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Transition test
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Title names and credits
This opening sequence shows the name of those involved. For my thriller opening, I am going to include.
A Lion Entertainment production
Actor, Anjali Derashri, April De Alwis, Roshni Mepani
Director of Photography: John Reed
Special effects: Arron Dellwis
Casting by: Donna Robbie
Costume design: Kate Brewer
Make-up: Alan Kennedy
Sound track by: Purple Planet
Edited by: Heath E Wigg
screenplay by: Ricky Lincoln
Directed by: Roshni Mepani
Effect Test
Alternatively, I could simply blur the video to make it appear more like a home video shot with a modern camcorder.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
BBFC
Considering the content of my thriller and the guidelines provided by the British Board of Film Classification I would say my thriller would possibly be rated at 15.
These are the characteristics of 15 from their official website:
These are the characteristics of 15 from their official website:
How much strong language is allowed in a 15?
There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’).
Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.
Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.
What about discriminatory or offensive terms?
There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.
However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
How much sex and nudity is allowed at 15?
At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category.
Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there will usually be no strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.
Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality
Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality
Can there be strong violence?
Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.
Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.
What about sexual violence?
There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.
Friday, 7 March 2014
Similar films
*MENTAL IS A LIGHT HEARTED COMEDY HOWEVER I HAVE TAKEN THE MESSAGE FROM THIS FILM FOR MY THRILLER*
Mental is a film released in 2012 directed by PJ Hogan and stars Toni Collette. The last film Toni Collette and PJ Hogan worked on together was Muriel's Wedding. This film was based on a real life event that the director PJ Hogan faced. Muriel's Wedding was about PJ Hogans sister and her wedding. While on the set of this film, Pj Hogan and Toni Collette were talking about Hogans nanny - a woman named Shaz. Hogans' dad had seen a woman waiting to go somewhere and decided to help her out and trusted her based on the fact that she had a dog. He then asked her to act as a nanny for his children because their mother had been taken into an institute.Hogan had said Shaz was the one person who helped his family through the time even t though "she was nuts". Within the first few days she was instantly able to better the girls' lives and towards the end she was taken in to the same institue as girls mother. So the young sisters broke in and helped Shaz to escape. Over the course Shaz helped the girls to see they did not have mental disorders but those around them did.
Here is the trailer of the film.
Mental is a film released in 2012 directed by PJ Hogan and stars Toni Collette. The last film Toni Collette and PJ Hogan worked on together was Muriel's Wedding. This film was based on a real life event that the director PJ Hogan faced. Muriel's Wedding was about PJ Hogans sister and her wedding. While on the set of this film, Pj Hogan and Toni Collette were talking about Hogans nanny - a woman named Shaz. Hogans' dad had seen a woman waiting to go somewhere and decided to help her out and trusted her based on the fact that she had a dog. He then asked her to act as a nanny for his children because their mother had been taken into an institute.Hogan had said Shaz was the one person who helped his family through the time even t though "she was nuts". Within the first few days she was instantly able to better the girls' lives and towards the end she was taken in to the same institue as girls mother. So the young sisters broke in and helped Shaz to escape. Over the course Shaz helped the girls to see they did not have mental disorders but those around them did.
This is similar to my thriller with the aspect of the disorder. The main character in my thriller suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). If the film was to continue past 3 minutes I would show one of the friends in of the main character swapping around the medication so that the condition would not be able to be controlled. Towards the end, it would represent something similar to the end of Mental. This would show the different sides to normality, the friend swapping the medicine would be seen as the troubled one and one character with DID would be seen as the perfectly "normal" person.
This here is a review of the film which explains the concept of the film:
Here is the trailer of the film.
soundtrack for Slice
For the soundtrack for my thriller I want something slow paced with an eerie sound. Possibly a track similar to this song:
This song has the mystery effect of the unknown similar to the main character. This is because my main character watched a home video with a which features her but she is not sure who the people in the video are. She can be seen with them and she is seen laughing and having a good time but she can not place them in her memory, she also does not recognise the place and is in a state of confusion.
After doing some research I found 3 tracks that I liked which emitted a similar effect.
Orphanage
In My Nightmares
Is Anyone There
This is the policy for Purple Planet - Royalty Free Music
All of the music in our free section (available at the links to the right) can be used for just about any project where music is needed - this could be your website, blog or a sharing site such as youtube, vimeo etc.
We simply ask that you add a link in the text to your video that credits us as:
Music: http://www.purple-planet.com
Please don't forget the 'http:// 'part as it creates a clickable link.
If you are a member of the youtube partner programme, it's fine to use our music. If you credit us, youtube will know the music is licenced correctly.
Increasingly, youtube are very hot on copyright infringment. If you don't credit us on youtube, that's fine, though you will probably be sent a copyright ID match. If you simply ackowledge this, ads may run on your video for which we receive a share. This is not the same as a 'copyright strike' and your account status is not affected.
This does not apply to other sites. if you put a video using our music on your own blog or website, there is no chance of it being content ID matched.
Situations requiring a paid-for licence
Pre-formatted licences can be automatically purchased and the details filled in by you, the user. These cost $8 for up to five separate tracks and are valid on a 'per-project' basis.
You will need a licence if a third party, ie a distributor, asks for one.
For example:
-Integrating our music within a game or app. A distributor, such as' google play',
will need to see proof of licensing.
-You have created a product for someone and have no control over how it is distibuted.
-Integrating our product within an audiobook that you sell, for example on amazon.
-Publicly playing our music where the venue owners need proof of licensing.
-Broadcast on radio/TV where the station requires proof of licensing.
This song has the mystery effect of the unknown similar to the main character. This is because my main character watched a home video with a which features her but she is not sure who the people in the video are. She can be seen with them and she is seen laughing and having a good time but she can not place them in her memory, she also does not recognise the place and is in a state of confusion.
After doing some research I found 3 tracks that I liked which emitted a similar effect.
Orphanage
In My Nightmares
Is Anyone There
All of the music in our free section (available at the links to the right) can be used for just about any project where music is needed - this could be your website, blog or a sharing site such as youtube, vimeo etc.
We simply ask that you add a link in the text to your video that credits us as:
Music: http://www.purple-planet.com
Please don't forget the 'http:// 'part as it creates a clickable link.
If you are a member of the youtube partner programme, it's fine to use our music. If you credit us, youtube will know the music is licenced correctly.
Increasingly, youtube are very hot on copyright infringment. If you don't credit us on youtube, that's fine, though you will probably be sent a copyright ID match. If you simply ackowledge this, ads may run on your video for which we receive a share. This is not the same as a 'copyright strike' and your account status is not affected.
This does not apply to other sites. if you put a video using our music on your own blog or website, there is no chance of it being content ID matched.
Situations requiring a paid-for licence
Pre-formatted licences can be automatically purchased and the details filled in by you, the user. These cost $8 for up to five separate tracks and are valid on a 'per-project' basis.
You will need a licence if a third party, ie a distributor, asks for one.
For example:
-Integrating our music within a game or app. A distributor, such as' google play',
will need to see proof of licensing.
-You have created a product for someone and have no control over how it is distibuted.
-Integrating our product within an audiobook that you sell, for example on amazon.
-Publicly playing our music where the venue owners need proof of licensing.
-Broadcast on radio/TV where the station requires proof of licensing.
Preparation with actors
when considering who I would ask to act in the thriller opening, I took into consideration the age of the characters and if the actions would be typical of a person in their teens. Thinking of this, I decided to go with quite a young person. The people I asked are between 14-19, although someone of that age does not typically take the role of someone who has a breakdown or someone who has Dissociative Personality Disorder or is not asked to because the majority of people suffering from this or from something similar are aged or are diagnosed when they are slightly older. However there are some younger people who are showing symptoms of Dissociative Personality Disorder but they are a minority so their cases are not publicised as much.
For this scene the location was:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)